Published: November 10, 2026
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Liberian peacebuilder Gwendolyn S. Myers, founder and executive director of Messengers of Peace-Liberia Inc. (MOP-Liberia), has been named the inaugural recipient of the African Union Peacebuilder Award 2025 in the Young Peacebuilder of the Year category, recognizing her contributions to youth-led peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery across Africa.
Myers received the award at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa during activities marking the 20th anniversary of the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) Policy Framework.
The ceremony, held under the theme, “Twenty Years of Building and Sustaining Peace: From Policy to Action,” brought together African Union commissioners, diplomatic missions and member states of the African Union Peace and Security Council.
The recognition follows Myers’ previous honor as a global pioneer of Youth, Peace and Security during the 10th anniversary commemoration of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250, which recognizes the role of young people in maintaining international peace and security.
Myers has been involved in international peacebuilding advocacy since 2015, when she became the first youth representative to address the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission to advocate for Resolution 2250.
She currently serves as a member of the African Union Advisory Panel on Democratic Elections and Governance, an African Union adviser on Right to Development Quick Impact Projects and an executive board member of the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding.
The award was presented during the official launch of the third edition of the African Union PCRD Journal, to which Myers has maintained a professional connection.
She contributed to the journal’s inaugural edition and currently serves on its editorial board.
The recognition also highlights the activities of Messengers of Peace-Liberia, which has spent 18 years implementing youth-focused peacebuilding programs in Liberia.
Through school-based peace clubs, mentorship programs, nonviolence campaigns and community dialogues, the organization has promoted youth participation in conflict prevention, peace education and community development.
In December 2025, MOP-Liberia partnered with the African Union Commission’s Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, through the AU PCRD Centre, to host the first Regional Youth Strategy Forum on Peacebuilding and the Right to Development.
The initiative included the renovation of Kpor Town Public School in Margibi County under the African Union’s Right to Development Quick Impact Projects framework.
The project was intended to improve educational facilities while demonstrating the relationship between peacebuilding and community development.
MOP-Liberia also partnered with the African Union’s Youth for Peace Africa Programme to organize the eighth Annual Youth Peace Summer Camp through its Africa School for Peace and Development.
The camp provided young Liberians with training in peacebuilding and continental development frameworks, including the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Following the award presentation, Myers dedicated the recognition to young people across Africa whose continued involvement in peacebuilding contributes to stability and community development.
She also emphasized the importance of sustained investment in grassroots peacebuilding initiatives and greater opportunities for young people to participate in decision-making processes.
MOP-Liberia described the award as recognition of its longstanding work in promoting youth leadership, conflict prevention and community-based peacebuilding.
The organization further stressed the need to incorporate the experiences of grassroots peacebuilders into continental peace and security policies, particularly in West Africa.
Myers and MOP-Liberia expressed appreciation to the African Union for the recognition and reaffirmed their commitment to promoting youth leadership, community-led recovery and sustainable development across Africa.
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